As Owner, Larry can do whatever he wants with other companies. However, as CEO, I would say this is a big conflict of interest. He receives generous compensation outside of his ownership appreciation. Why is he diverting attention to this (and other) businesses outside of Oracle? If the business plan was sound, and in the same space as Oracle, why didn't he pursue the resources under his command as CEO of Oracle?
I've know several people who have been sacked for having a sideline business in the same space as their employers.

10:26 am June 29, 2011

Steve Jobs wrote :

I did the same thing when Apple bought my company, Next, for half-a-billion -- give or take a few tens of millions. That was a great deal for me! In fact, I gave Larry lessons on how to pull this off. He's a pretty good student.

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